The National Garment Workers Federation on Monday demanded a special allocation in the proposed national budget for the financial year 2024-25 for introduction of rationing for the garment workers in Bangladesh.
The NGWF, a garment workers rights body raised the demand at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity.
At the conference, NGWF president Amirul Haque Amin in his written speech demanded a special allocation of Tk 10,000 crore in the proposed budget for introduction of the rationing system from where garment workers could buy essential commodities at cheaper prices.
More than 42 lakh garment workers were suffering much to run their families with the minimum wage of Tk 12,500 per month, Amirul told the press conference.
He called on the government to keep an allocation of Tk 10,000 crore in the proposed budget for the garment workers.
The budget is expected to be passed in the parliament on June 30.
He added that the NGWF would hold programmes if the government failed to meet their demand.
The programmes include holding a march towards Prime Minister鈥檚 Office in the third week of July, holding joint meetings of all garment labour rights bodies across the country in the first week of July and holding a roundtable discussion in Dhaka on the issue of rationing in the second week of July, Amirul Haque Amin said.
General secretary of NGWF Rafiqul Islam Rafique, central leaders Aleya Begum, Sweety Sultana and central leaders of some worker rights bodies attended the press conference.